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Bring on the update then!

Feb 13, 08 - 10:53 am Comment from: deepdish

This is stupid on Apple's part not to release this update.

If it is true, then do it already Apple.

Don't be evil.

Feb 13, 08 - 10:57 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Well, yeah, it would be a fine update.
So, what's keeping you, Apple?

It would even be an upgrade worth paying a few bucks for.

It would be uber-cool if  did this...

...can you imagine M$ giving away an update like this?

No? Neither can I

I wonder if they'll do the same thing they did with the Touch? Charge an extra $20 to add the feature. I hope they don't.

Feb 13, 08 - 11:05 am Comment from: Z-Money

As the MacBook Air does have the largest trackpad to date it would make sense that some tweeking would have to be done for it to work as invisioned on MacBook and MacBook Pros smaller diameter track pads. Personally, I own a MacBook Pro and I can't wait to have access to this cool feature. I could see why they would wait as it is a feature that sets apart the MacBook Air and it makes sense they would like to capitalize on it to boost future sales in the near term and releasing an update to other laptop model owners within a few months time.

I'd like an external USB multi-touch trackpad for my iMac. Better yet, Bluetooth.

Still stuck on an old Powerbook G4 here. Will make the leap to a black macbook when it gets the gigantic oversized trackpad that the Air currently has.

due to sarb-ox accounting laws, Apple may have to charge a nominal fee for this. Think $2.99. The $20 for the ipod touch was more because it was adding a lot of features.

This is exactly why apple chose to account for the iphone in a different way. So that they can add major changes that they knew were coming (but not yet ready) without charging for them.

this seems suspect to me. if its pure software then why has the air got the same sensor chip from the iphone for its multi-touch.

Feb 13, 08 - 11:10 am Comment from: HMCIV

Don't forget some multi touch lovin for us Powerbooks out there!

I have to ask, if its just a software update, why hast a third party come along with an app to add the functionality?

Also, does it really matter? I played around with the multi touch on the AIR and found that it was not that helpful in most situations

Just my two cents.

The case design of the MacBook Pro is in its 7th year. They need a heck of a lot more than a multitouch software update.

They charged $20 for the Touch update because Sarbanes-Oxley forced them to charge something for it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes-Oxley_Act

IF they upgrade existing computers to multitouch ,they will charge for it.

But it's a big if. Apple is in the business of making serious money. More likely they will update the MacBook Pro with a larger trackpad and multi-touch, and if you really want it, you have to buy a new machine.

Unless, of course, someone supplies a hack to unlock the feature a la screen spanning doctor, which unlocked extended desktop for iBook owners.

I agree with Z-Money. As far as charging a bit extra, cool. The thought of making my new 17" MacBook Pro that much more fun makes me warm and squirmy. Good gravy if we can afford one of these wonderful machines isn't even $20 a nominal fee to add such a great feature? Don't buy a mocha for one day a week for the next month. Perspective folks perspective. The 20 for the iPod Touch update was well worth it. Wait until you can afford it you can't.

MDN has dumped 2 of my posts, what a bunch (or a guy in his basement) commies.

I didn't use bad language or anything. Pretty lame.

MDN = Apple employee blogger

That doesn't mean Apple will do it. Look at the old G4 867 laptop. Apple never offered touchpad scrolling options (2 finger)so I had to download a program from Sidetrack that gave me scrolling options on the left or right of the trackpad and keystoke shortcuts in all 4 corners of that liitle trackpad. very cool software. Prefer the 2 finger scrolling anyday. Hope my 7 month old Intel gets 3 finger page forward/backward browsing options.

...and don't tell me, we early adopters who bought the macbook pro core solo won't be included, right?

Feb 13, 08 - 11:43 am Comment from: Ampar

I'd pay a few (<10) bucks for an upgrade like that.

". . . makes me warm and squirmy."

I'm just warm and spongy. Is squirmy better?

Feb 13, 08 - 12:11 pm Comment from: Grigori

Warm and squishy would be my choice.

I'm still waiting for an external multi-touch pad for my desktop, Apple.

But three finger scroll is stupid and awkward!

And it doesn't work like it does on the iPhone.

Web pages don't enlarge on the computer like on the iPhone, only the font size increases, so you can't enlarge small photos on your computer nearly as well as you can on your phone.

Isn't that stupid!

I'm hoping that the drop in stock price will force Apple to:
1. Stick to it's own deadlines (like they did not do with Leopard);
2. Unlock the potential of it's products (like they did with Apple TV)

Feb 13, 08 - 12:29 pm Comment from: mr_matalino

link is dead

Asking why Apple hasn't released this on existing Macs shows a degree of naivety..

a) priorities

b) Air sales' USP

c) It may well not be as easy as Jobs saying do it and a day later its done.

Be realistic.

Wow, talk about inpatient people.

It's not a matter of being impatient or not understanding priorities.

It's a matter of Apple (Steve Jobs) getting pressure to maximize its market value. And there's lots more that Apple (Steve Jobs) can do to accomplish that. It's great to have potential, but un-tapped potential is simply waste.

You morons, the MBA has the same chip that the iPhone has...and most notably that existing MBPs DO NOT!

Conlusion: Bullshit article without substance.

@MDN: Dig a bit deeper before reprinting badly researched articles from the likes of T3.

Note: The original T3 article has gone, probably because someone has told them its false!

Feb 13, 08 - 01:32 pm Comment from: Connor MacBook

If Apple don't think it's usable on the smaller trackpad, they won't do it.

Feb 13, 08 - 01:56 pm Comment from: ken1w

Come on... why would an Apple spokesperson, one who was actually knowledgeable on the subject, tell T3 this "rumor" and cause a PR problem with existing MacBook owners? Was the Apple "spokesperson" an Apple Store salesperson trying to sell a MacBook to the T3 author?

I think it's a hardware limitation. But that doesn't mean it can't be done some other way. Now that MacBook Air has been out there for a few week, it won't be long before some third party releases a hack to make it (or something similar work) on older MacBooks.

I got to play with a MBA this past weekend at the apple store. I have to say I wasn't that impressed with the multi touch. It seems to work nowhere near as soothe at the iPhone. Even the apple store guy was having trouble with some of the functions when I asked him to show me how to do them. (3 finger, and rotate were specifically the ones we had issues with)

But it is much snappier than I would have expected it to be with a slow HD and processor!

Feb 13, 08 - 02:20 pm Comment from: NeoVoyager

I bet anything they won't though. They'll make it a "feature" of the next revision of notebooks. Just watch.

"existing MacBooks and MacBook Pros which already feature two-finger scroll, horizontal scrolling, zooming, and secondary (right) clicking via their Trackpads."

I discovered another Trackpad trick by accident:
I had two fingers on my trackpad wanting to zoom in on a page, but thinking i was holding down the ctrl key i scrolled my 2 fingers to find I was going backwards & forwards through web pages!
I was holding down the alt key by mistake.
It's a bit more clumsy than the Air's implementation, but it works.
And i'm running Tiger!

Feb 13, 08 - 03:00 pm Comment from: Renderdog

Two fingers are understood on the old pads but I suspect they're less versatile than the Air's, might not just be software.

THIS IS NOT TRUE. THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED ON MOST NEWS SITES.

From Ars Technica:

"Update: It appears as if the original article at T3 was likely taken down because it was incorrect. As we learned from the iFixit teardown of the MacBook Air, it makes use of the same dedicated multi-touch chip as the one found in the iPhone. We are unsure as to whether T3 misquoted an Apple spokesperson on this issue or whether PR was merely confused. Either way, we still believe that Apple plans to put larger multi-touch trackpads in its other Macs!"

Reikiwes is right. It's not just the software.

Look for multi touch and other new features in the next updates of the MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

Do I need it? No!
Do I want it Yes!
Why?
Cause the chicks will be amazed what interesting things I could do with three fingers....